Why Cybersecurity Must Remain A Top Priority For Remote Workers

As COVID-19 cases climb in many states, organizations continue to keep their workforces home for the foreseeable future. And with no vaccine or cure yet available, many business leaders don’t know when—if ever—their employees will return to the office.

Most employees, who transitioned to working from home over the past several months, have become accustomed to their new work digs. In fact, recent data show that 59% of teleworkers like working from home and wish to continue as long as they can.

But this comfort level should not turn into carelessness. Data show bad actors are taking full advantage of corporate system vulnerabilities created by moving so many employees home to work on unsecure networks. Hackers are trying to hijack email accounts or infiltrate organizational systems in other ways. The FBI says online complaints reported to its Internet Crime Complaint Center have nearly quadrupled since the start of the pandemic—to as many as 4,000 a day!

To combat this, organizations should emphasize to staff the importance of following corporate policies and procedures related to cybersecurity and provide employees with cyber-awareness education and training. And remote workers should continue to remain vigilant to suspicious emails and phishing attempts and follow best practices regarding setting up secure home systems.

The stakes are higher than ever. Firms simply cannot afford to not prioritize cybersecurity, especially considering the average cost of a cyber breach is around $116 million.

TalaTek’s workforce has been fully remote since its inception. The firm has succeeded with this model by emphasizing to staff the necessity of complying with these work-from-home cybersecurity best practices, and encourages other firms to follow suit:

  • Utilize a VPN.
  • Make sure employees know how to establish secure home WiFi systems.
  • Train staff on how to stay vigilant against suspicious emails, links and attachments.
  • Keep work on work devices only.
  • Create robust, complex passwords and change them often.
  • Enable multi-factor authentication.
  • Use encryption when sending sensitive information.

 

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